#like I know plenty of people that are kind of annoying and it's literally fine

[brinnanza]

trying to embrace a lifestyle called the weird old guy in a reddit post about a weird old guy

[funishment-time]

as a summer camp stan

i will say you are 100% Allowed to not like the writing (we're not going to talk about the "game" aspect) but always keep in mind that it's the nicest AU there is.

in this world, everyone has had three peaceful years together. Syojack is a Known Entity, Chihiro comes out without issue, people think it's funny Imposter walks around as Byakuya, Hajime is besties with everyone in class 77, Usami is real, Mukuro's made tons of friends in disguise as Junko, Kamukura exists but may not be Hajime at all, etc etc.

the Kumas are a nuisance at worst! this Chiaki is a beatific combo of DR3 and AI Chiaki! the v3 kids are happily attending! Junko hangs out on the sidelines being annoying with her little robo-bear! even Shuichi lacks his hat...

in-universe, this means that some characters are going to feel Different because they've never been backed into a Tragic Corner here. literally the worst thing that's happened to any of them is the stuff already in their main timeline backstories. that is to say, Mondo's still lost Daiya, Kyoko's still lost Yui, Rantaro's looking for his sisters, but there's been no Enoshima Brand Killing Game, ever.

so of course some characters seem Worse or Better! they've never had to show the sides of them we see come out in the main timeline. Toko's still kind of a brat because whatever she went thru with Komaru was way less dangerous than UDG. Tenko's still kind of a brat because she's never had to change or woman up, and Himiko only recently warmed up to her because there's no fucking scythe in Tenko's head separating them for eternity. Kyoko's had no reason to trust anyone, and Kaede has plenty of friends to make besides Shuichi...

it's a strange place. if, knowing this, the writing still feels off to you, that's Totally Fine. we all have our opinions and interpretations! but remember that a gentle world will bring some perhaps unexpected sides of our blorbos out. it may not necessarily be OOC, just a version of them we never got to experience because Murderdeath

[0cta9on]

You want fluff requests? Please do (G)I-DLE Soojin! I wanna read M Reader literally sleeping with her.

Hello anon! Sorry for taking so long on this one :> Also, never thought I'd have to do this for a short, but thanks to @msafterhours for looking over this, you're a real one lmao :]

The scratching of graphite against paper is a tune you’ve come to memorize, even enjoy as late nights provide the much needed quiet and solitude that allows space for your creativity to thrive. The people around you have plenty to say about your poor sleeping habits, but you can’t exactly help it if an idea for a garment comes to you as the sun dips below the horizon. In the long history of great creatives, “good health” doesn’t exactly rank high on their list of priorities, so you figure you’re on par to opening that high end fashion brand one day. 

A gentle rasp against your front door reminds you to straighten your back. The clock reads 1AM, who the hell could it be at this hour?

“Hey,” Soojin greets you from the other side of the door, carrying a pillow and wearing a bizarre combination of an oversized band tee and pajama pants with pumpkins all over them.

“Uh, hey, what are you doing here?”

She nervously shifts her gaze from side to side, avoiding your eyes entirely. “Well, I was in the neighborhood and—”

“Carrying a pillow?”

A hint of pink forms on her cheeks like blooming sakuras. “...Y-yes. Anyways, I thought I’d stop by and visit a friend.”

“It’s 1 in the morning, what if I was sleeping?”

“You? Asleep at a normal time?” she scoffs. “I think hell would freeze before that would happen.”

Your eyes roll into the back of your head as her regular cocky attitude shines through. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Come in.”

Soojin’s grin widens as she skips into your apartment like she’s done plenty of times before, her gaze immediately gravitating towards the messy pile of sketches on your desk. “What’cha working on this time?”

“Just an idea for a dress I had,” you say, tidying up around your apartment. She shoots you a familiar impish look that always precedes an increasingly annoying line she likes to repeat.

“If you ever needed a model—”

“I know, Soojin,” you groan. “You’ll be the first person I call, alright?”

“Just making sure,” she chuckles at your expense, plopping herself onto your coach.

“Why are you really here?” you ask. That same nervous expression pops up on her face, an obvious tell whenever she doesn’t want to reveal the truth.

“I told you already, I was in the neighborhood and wanted to visit you.” She clutches her pillow closer to her chest, her gaze glued to the ground. “That’s all.”

You sigh. “You live a good half an hour from me, and that’s the best lie you could think of?” you quip, raising an eyebrow at her. All that gets you is a solid smack to the back of your head that knocks a few of your screws loose.

“I-I’m not lying!”

“ALRIGHT, DAMN!” you exclaim, clutching the back of your head in pain. The room falls into a tense silence as she huffs into her pillow.

Lies were so commonplace on Soojin’s tongue, as normal as butter on toast. You’ve come to expect every other word out of her mouth to be laced with some kind of half-truth, all dolled up to hide the cracks underneath. You can’t help but wonder why she keeps you around if all she does is play make believe with you.

“...Sorry for hitting you,” she murmurs, her tone uncharacteristically somber.

“Yeah, whatever,” you mutter, resting your head against the back of the couch.

“I, uh…” Her shoulders rise and fall as a heavy breath falls from her lips. “I wasn’t just in the neighborhood.”

“Yeah?” You glance towards her, curiosity piqued.

“Y-yeah, um… God, this is gonna sound so stupid.”

“Hey,” you say gently, resting your hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. Are you alright?”

She sighs. “Promise me that you’re not gonna laugh.”

Your heartbeat echoes with anticipation, crescendoing in your chest. “Um, alright, I won’t laugh.”

“Promise me,” she scowls, shooting fire with her eyes.

“O-okay, I promise,” you gulp nervously. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I, uh…” Soojin shoves her face into her pillow, muffling her voice. “Ifhadnighmar.”

“Huh?”

She huffs in annoyance before spewing, “I had a nightmare! There, I said it! Look at me, a grown ass woman with a nightmare! Whoopty-fucking-doo!”

You shrink in your seat from her outburst, but despite it all, you can’t help but feel grateful. Her eyes were on you the whole time she was yelling. She didn’t lie to you.

“Hey, it happens, what can you do?” You stand up from your seat and stretch out your back, a bout of exhaustion hitting you as the muscles in your lower back relax. “You’re free to crash on the couch if you want—”

“W-wait!” Soojin grabs onto your arm, her eyes wide in panic. “I, uh… Nevermind. Sorry.”

For how much she lies, it’s a wonder how easy it is to read her. She’s like an open book written in a language that you can only partially understand. Sure, it takes a while to completely get her, but all that time and effort is worth it in the end.

“Eh, my room is too far, you mind if I stay on the couch with you?” you ask her.

The corners of her lips lift into a sly smile, but her eyes betray her true feelings as they beam at you with appreciation. “Hm, fine. I don’t usually let guys sleep with me until the second date, but I’m willing to make an exception just this one time.”

“Oh god, if this is your idea of a first date, then we desperately need to find you a better taste in men,” you chuckle, molding your body into the space next to her. Soojin smacks your face with her pillow before laying on top of you.

“Whatever,” she huffs, shifting her body into a comfortable position. You begin to push her off, but decide against it as the warmth of her body sends you towards a peaceful slumber. A gentle pressure on your cheek is the last thing you feel before succumbing to your own exhaustion.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

This is pretty low stakes and no matter what, everyone likes each other a lot. So it's not a huge problem. But also, I'm steadfast on this...

I live with my sister a several roomates and we all consider each other family. It's a very cozy living situation. However, that doesnt mean we always get along and X and I butt heads on plenty of occasions.

X is a wonderful person but they're also extremely sensitive. They're autistic and dont like certain sounds or behaviors but also they run around screaming a lot or will walk up up and start talking randomly about something. I dont mind it, it can be really annoying when I'm trying to work but understand it and usually hear them out. However the running around screaming "CUM" and "I'M GONNA KILL YOU" can be pretty grating.

Anyways, I really like singing. I have a high soprano voice akin to a victorian childs ghost and I sing when I do the dishes and X haaaaates it. They always tell me to "fucking stop or I'll kill you" (they just speak in an extreme manner as a joke or out of habit it's not threatening just annoying) or "stop, I cant take it". I sometimes stop but sometimes I tell them to get over it because 1) they scream cum like 24/7 2) our other roomate sings until 3 am (deep husky voice very epic to celtic songs) and nobody complains and 3) idgaf. They tell me I'm mean and I tell them they're being overly sensitive, and then they say that they're autistic.

On one hand I understand that they have sensitivities, our other roomates and my sister are autistic as well and have certain things we need to keep in check. I also recognize that I can be overly harsh at times since they have a hard time understanding boundaries (I have issues with people touching me or invading my business so I have very short temper I that area). On the other hand they are the kind of person who cant take their own medicine, even if they're joking the CUM screaming and constant "I'm gonna kill you" really wears you down. I feel pretty justified in my snapping, like when they kept a walking into my room and caught me changing and said "why dont you put a curtain up?" (I had to reiterate that its MY ROOM!) Also when talking with my other roomates we dont have these kinds of problems and we understand what compromises we need to make.

Anyhow, I was singing These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things and X asked me not to because it gives her bad memories and I said I wouldnt, I sang a Neir song and X asked me not to because it's scary and I said alright, i was singing Lullaby of Birdland and X said something and I said GET OVER IT YOU SISSY and they got really sad. I was going to return to piano playing so I can learn Malo from Turn Of The Screw which is possibly the creepiest victorian child song you could sing, they probably wont like it but nowadays I just say "I literally dont care" and continue.

I know im really harsh and probably being rude but the double standards are very annoying and my other roomates think I'm fine. They say I'm mean but they think everything is mean. We are friends regardless. AITA

What are these acronyms?

[musicalmoritz]

Why do fandoms hate non-monogamy?

I find it so confusing that the only hate comments I’ve ever received on ao3 have been about non-monogamy of all things. I don’t consider my writing to be massively shocking or controversial but I do occasionally write about some darker subjects (cannibalism, legal age gaps, couples carving their names into each other’s backs, lesbian serial killers), and these are the fics I typically brace myself for pushback on. Again, even the darker stuff doesn’t get too dark, I tend to fluff things up a bit. But these fics end up receiving overwhelming support, which I’m very grateful for

Still though, when I write stuff like that, you can imagine my confusion when people instead choose to hate on my open relationship fics. At least if it were something pertaining to violence I could be like “okay I get it, this subject makes some people uncomfortable.” When it’s simply stretching the bounds of heteronormativity or interpreting the characters differently, the comments end up feeling particularly aggressive. I’m talking a kind of hate I’ve only experienced within Southern Baptist churches

You literally cannot look me in the eyes and tell me that Hisoka and Illumi would have a monogamous relationship. That is so completely different from their canon dynamic, where they’re already implied to have something going on but Hisoka is seen thirsting over other characters frequently. The first hate comment was about them and I was a little petty about it, I called the commenter out in the description of the fic. I have since then deleted the callout but I kinda wish I hadn’t. Though I’ve heard there’s a hatebot on HisoIllu ao3 so that might have been the problem

The other ship was Cherik, which comes down more to interpretation. Although they are one of my favorite ships ever, I do multiship with them and I feel as though their relationships with women are very valuable to both of them. I know because of the ending to Dark Phoenix, a lot of people like to give them a stereotypical Hallmark happily ever after but I just can’t completely see them like that. At least not during the bulk of the franchise, which is where my fic took place. I think they are soulmates but they have other shit going on, and other people in their lives they wouldn’t want to give up (I’m very attached to Erik’s relationship with Magda from the comics so shhhh). Writing them as an old married couple before they’ve worked everything out just isn’t realistic to me

And Soukoku, omg Soukoku. This one wasn’t a hate comment but someone decided to mention in a bookmark they made for one of my fics that they didn’t like how Dazai and Chuuya weren’t fully together and still saw other people. I don’t write for Soukoku anymore as I really only “ship” them in the manga, their dynamic is perfect as it is and I don’t need to see anything added to that. But that’s simply a matter of preference, there are plenty of fans who do want to see them run off and get married and you know what? If I ended up reading a fic like that, I wouldn’t bookmark it just to complain that I’d prefer if they weren’t married. Soukoku is like the least heteronormative ship ever, c’mon guys. Their dynamic is so unique and complex and you want to see them settle down with 5 kids?? To each their own ig but don’t tell me how you want to see them fanonized😭

Those aren’t the only ships I’ve written open relationships with, at least I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure some of my Fyozai and Nikozai fics have been like that as well. Which makes me even more annoyed because I know it’s just because HisoIllu, Cherik, and Soukoku are massively popular ships within their respective fandoms and people want to see them characterized the exact same way every time. When there’s such an overload of content for all three of them, you’d think people would be less picky. If you don’t like how I write them that’s completely fine, just go read a different fic. I promise you there’s no shortage, Soukoku is one of the top ships on ao3. I don’t really like the way Soukoku and Cherik are characterized by their fandoms so when I write them, I try to provide something different. It’s good to have variety in the type of content that exists for ships, I’ve had a lot of Soukoku fans thank me for highlighting Chuuya’s flaws rather than making Dazai the only villain in their relationship. It may not be for you, but there are some people who will enjoy it. If you don’t like it just move on and read something else

Overall I think the issue here is heteronormativity (take a shot every time I write that word). It’s perfectly fine if you want your ships to have a storybook romance where they get married and have babies at the end, I’m like that with most of my ships. But keep in mind that there are different types of relationships, and not everyone wants to read the same thing. That’s my favorite part of multishipping, some ships don’t exist as full relationships to me and that’s great. It gives me the opportunity to explore different dynamics- friends with benefits, one-sided pining, besties who flirt, emotionally married but never confessed. People really only seem okay with this variety of the ship isn’t popular, or if it’s not the main pairing for a character. Nobody bats an eye when I write Fyozai as non-monogamous because at the end of the day, most of those readers want to see Dazai end up with Chuuya. Popular ships deserve variety too though, a lot of readers are secretly missing that. We’ve seen Soukoku written the same way a million times, so why not mix it up?? One fic of them being non-monogamous won’t hurt anybody. You can still interpret them however you want to, but don’t send hate to fans who don’t share the same opinion

Not everyone has the same relationship experience, and fiction should reflect that. There’s a common complaint that love stories are repetitive, so writers should be encouraged to take a different approach to romance. Those relationships aren’t any less valuable than “traditional” ones, they can be just as meaningful and life-changing. I’ll even bring TBHK into this; while I prefer to imagine Teru and Akane having some fairytale ending together, it’s so refreshing to see most fans giving them an angsty slowburn well into their 30s. It’s something you don’t see with every ship, and it fits them well. That’s the beauty of fan fiction, everyone interprets the characters slightly differently so we get to explore different concepts with them. In that sense, even the overused tropes feel unique every time. So don’t shame someone for stepping further outside popular fan interpretation, they’re just proving some variety that many readers may enjoy

[boxboxlewis]

The tourist was clearly Outwith, with a sleek and vaguely prosperous air that spoke to an upbringing on some privileged planet with plentiful gravity and natural starlight. He reminded Max of his sister’s fat babies: all placid and innocent. He was going to get eaten alive on Bas Station, but that wasn’t Max’s problem.

“...I have paid already, to have my authorization expedited,” the tourist said. The slight pause before he spoke gave away that he was using a translation implant; his fluency showed it was an expensive one. Max, Inwith from birth, who spoke three languages the old-fashioned way and tended to view neural implants as cheating, rolled his eyes internally.

“I doubt that, if this is your first time on-Station,” he said. “Show me this authorization, please.” He watched as the tourist fumbled around in a metal-plated rucksack of the sort that was marketed to worried idiots as “theft-proof."

At last the tourist withdrew a holochip, and held it up, evidently relieved he hadn’t lost it. “...Here it is.”

Max scanned the holochip and words in High Bas appeared, floating in the air. By the order of the Commission for Bas, LANDO NORRIS is granted entry to Bas Station and all rights, moreover, to conduct business without taxation or onerous duty, heretofore. Signed, DANIEL RICCIARDO, COMMISSIONER. 

He sighed, and looked at the tourist’s face. “Lando.”

“...Yes?”

“You’ve been scammed.”

Lando’s face literally drained of colour, which was kind of cool because previously Max had thought that that metaphor was exaggerated. “...But I paid him. I paid the man, I gave him money—”

“Yes, usually that is how scams work.”

“...But—”

“This man, Daniel Ricciardo? He is not a commissioner of anything. He's a con man. Does your translation software have that word? He is a crook. A bandit. A felon.”

Lando was gawping at Max unattractively, mouth hanging open. Max sighed. “Let me guess. You met him at some backwater waystation between your planet and Bas. He knocked into you on the concourse, maybe, and said he wanted to buy you a drink to make up for it. You started chatting, and he told you he was a commissioner on Bas. What a surprise, you are on your way to do business on Bas! So he offered to help you out. He implied that, for a price, he could save you all of our annoying intake fees. He showed you a very official-looking ID.”

Lando looked like he was maybe about to cry. He said, “...How do you know this? Do you know this man? If you know this why hasn’t he been arrested? I want the police, I want to make an official report—”

“Well, of course you can try.” Max let himself sound slightly dubious. “But you maybe do not want to start your business dealings on Bas by announcing to everyone that you have been scammed. And Daniel has many friends. Even on the police. Even here, among the border guard, there are those who protect him. I doubt you will have much luck if you go through official channels.” He hesitated, and Lando, predictably, lunged for the bait.

“...But there is something I could do? Unofficially?”

“Well. I of course do not like it when this criminal makes a mockery of us.” Max looked down at his hands, and then back up through his lashes. Time to let Lando feel like a big man. “There are… some people I could call. To have him taught a lesson. It wouldn’t be cheap—and their fee would be in addition to the authorization costs you still need to pay, naturally—but it would perhaps be… enjoyable. For you to know that justice had been served.”

Lando set his jaw. “...Yes. Yes, but this time I want proof. I want photos to my implant chip after it’s done, all right? …Or I’m going to the police, and I’m reporting you too.” He was posturing, full of bluster: that was fine. The main thing was, he was going to pay. Max felt a vicious thrill of satisfaction, which he was careful to keep off his face. 

“You’ll get your photos, don’t worry.” 

Lando, still pale and sweating, jutted his chin down, as if nodding firmly was going to let him reclaim control of the situation—nice try, Lando—and then it was just a matter of sorting out details. 

In the end Lando paid 500 credits for the privilege of having Daniel Ricciardo beaten up: more than Max's salary for three Standard Bas Months. They were unmarked credits, too, which meant no taxes, and no awkward questions from his bankchain. Max was whistling as he made his way home after work.

Daniel was there already in the double-occupancy pod they shared, looking blue and ethereal under the anti-jaundice lighting. “Maxy! Fuck, it’s good to see you. Good day?”

Max leapt onto the sleeping bench and crawled his way up Daniel’s body, slotting his arms under Daniel’s arms, nuzzling his face into Daniel’s neck: making his way back home. “I hooked that tourist you hustled on Barathar waystation. The baby business idiot you sold the fake entry authorisation to? I told him it was a scam and he gave me 500 credits to have you beaten up.”

Daniel’s body shook as he started laughing, sending warm tremors all through Max’s body. “Are you fucking serious? Max, you’re a legend. It’s an honour to know you. Five hundred credits?!” He crooked his knee up between Max’s thighs, rocked his hips up. “With that and the 300 credits I already got from him… feels like it just might be time to put a downpayment on that flyer for you. Get you back on the racing circuit.”

Max hummed and pressed his own hips down. “Hmm, well. The thing is I have already spent the money, actually.”

Daniel went very still but his voice was still warm when he said, “Oh, yeah? Major shopping spree at the arcade, huh?” So he maybe thought Max was joking.

Max had not been joking. He tried to make his voice casual as he said, “That hydroponic allotment you wanted? To grow grapes, so you can make wine like they did on Earth? I’ve leased it. For twelve Standard months, it’s all yours.”

And then he didn’t say anything more, because Daniel had rolled them over, and was kissing him.

thank you to @magicalrocketships for reading this over!!

[lowcosmic]

HERE I COME WITH ANOTHER REQUEST CUCARACHIN

This happened because something similar happened to me, well it's about Shuichi coming to his partner's house (I prefer the reader to be amab although I don't care if it was gn) the thing is that it is the first time he meets his brother / the sister minor from the reader!

So while the reader is there everything is fine but then he leaves Shuichi with his brother/sister and it happens that she/he no longer behaves like an "angel", she/he literally looks at Shuichi badly, she/he questions him about what intentions he has with his brother. eldest (the reader) and all that about children who are suspicious of their older brother/sister's partner 😈

I imagine that he/she says to Shuichi: "Ah, are you his boyfriend?.." and talks to Shuichi like he's an annoying fly "I imagined.....someone different." and with a tone of voice of clear disappointment and contempt towards Shuichi, I think he would be a little sad that your boyfriend's brother/sister shows so much distrust towards him.

So when the reader comes over (went out to buy some ice cream) his/her younger brother/sister acts like before, like an "angel" so the reader does not suspect for the moment

I imagine that Shuichi then tells him what happened to his sister/brother and in the end the reader only comforts him with some kisses and hugs and laughing softly, because his younger sister/brother is only 7 years old.

-🦕

—— shuichi meeting your younger sibling .

— 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : shuichi's heard a lot of good things about your “ sweet little sibling , ” but his first encounter with them is quite different than what he was expecting.

— 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : fluff

— 𝐜𝐰 : none

— 𝐚/𝐧 : yes this is gn! reader ,, coming from an only child perspective , i had to think about how other people’s little siblings are like lmao

you and shuichi have hung out plenty of times at his house , but never at yours. so he’d proposed the idea one day , and there you both were.

you told him that your younger sibling would be there , and he reassured that he didn’t mind. after all , the most you two would do would be kissing and cuddling , nothing beyond that …

you threw on a movie to watch , since movies are great and all and it’d be perfect for you and shuichi to just be close together.

your younger sibling joined with , promising that they’d not be a hassle and sat down next to you.

then , you got up to get some snacks in the middle of you and shuichi just leaning on each other and semi - hugging.

once you were out of earshot , your sibling turned to shuichi.

“ so , you’re the guy my sibling’s so crazy over? kind of disappointing. what do you want with them anyways? ” your sibling would immediately say.

shuichi would be a bit caught off guard. like , tf do you mean “ kind of disappointing ” ?? so he’d probably respond with something like , “ oh , um … were you expecting something different from me? ”

and they’d reply with , “ well , yeah! like some hunky buff guy or something. ”

“ ah … well , sorry …? ” he’d just awkwardly apologize , since he didn’t want to offend your sibling that you spoke so nicely ( for the most part ) about.

“ so what do you want with them , huh? ” they’d ask , pressuring for him to answer.

shuichi would stutter under the pressuring glare he was put under , and he wouldn’t know how to properly answer the question. i mean , you guys were dating. why would they need to ask that? did he really look that untrustworthy?

“ plus , what’s with your weird emo look? you look straight out of my chemical romance or something. ”

“ i — what? ”

and then before he’d been able to respond , you came inside the room.

looking at your sibling’s one last glare at shuichi before redirecting to the screen , and then a look at shuichi’s troubled face , you could piece together that something had happened while you were gone.

“ everything … all right? ” you’d ask. your sibling would reply with a chirp of , “ yeah! ” while shuichi would say it more in a meekly sounding way.

hearing his tone of voice you’d go over , and after putting the snacks on the table , briefly kiss shuichi on the cheek. in the corner of his eye , he’d see your sibling’s bitter judgement of the scene.

you brushed the scene before away and focused instead on basking in shuichi’s personal warmth , as the movie soon ended and the nighttime hours came.

as he said goodbye at your doorstep , you closed the door behind you to step outside. you asked him why he looked so confused at your sibling earlier with a small smile on your face.

he’d then spill everything , and also a hint of his insecurities at not being a “ hunky buff guy ” to suit your sibling’s tastes and instead projecting a “ weird emo look ”.

you’d then start a heartfelt speech on how he was perfectly fine for you , and that your sibling’s young enough only to know the stereotypical relationship qualities on tv cartoons and such , not actual love or relationships in the real world. it didn’t matter that he wasn’t super strong or anything , and it really only mattered that it was him.

and you also reminded him that your sibling wasn’t even in middle school. then shuichi started feeling silly for his sudden feelings. you hugged and kissed him anyways , laughing lightheartedly at the situation as you let him stay over instead ; wanting him and your sibling to try to get along in this second try.

please don’t repost , translate , or claim my works as your own.

[targaryenluvs]

the last one standing

pairings: robb stark x fem!targaryen!reader, aemond targaryen x targaryen!reader

summary: the one where you’re set to marry your younger brother, aemond. and the night beforehand you run away, a last moment of freedom before you’re life is gone. but end up in a not-so foreign land where you discover the ending of the House of the Dragon. and maybe fall in love along the way.

warnings: none

a/n: i literally cleaned out my drafts and found the part two of this, just uploaded!!

The fifth moon. The wedding was set in stone and the prospect of marriage loomed over your head everywhere you went. The small folk congratulated you wherever you went. You were known for your own kind nature, connecting with the people of Kings Landing whenever the opportunity showed.

“Y/n the Kind”, or “The Diamond of the Realm”, these were two of many names you’d taken under your wing. When word of your marriage reached the ears of the people of Westeros many people decreed it unlawful, per usual, but most were entirely shocked. Why would such a sweet hearted girl be wed to a cold-hearted man?

Since your early years you managed to gather plenty of suitors. Most started enthralled with the idea of courting, (and eventually marrying) The Diamond of The Realm, but most actually ended up befriended by you. As you liked to point out to your mother as many a chance as you received, “These men come along seeking a wife in me, most end up leaving with a trusted friend. I do not know how exactly, but I suppose my kind nature is so sweet they see me as a confidante, a sister.” Which your mother was not happy to hear, but never questioned you. “Well you wouldn’t exactly scare them away as Rhaenyra tried in her years. Perhaps we need to find someone more durable, strong-headed.”

And that person just so happened to take shape in your younger brother; Aemond.

As children you got along quite well. Helaena and Aegon were always to be set together, as were the two of you; but you were always opposed to the idea. You were 4 years his senior, and had offered the idea of yourself and your twin brother’s marriage. But deep down you knew you wished for anything but, as did Aegon. You weren’t particularly close as children to anyone of your three brothers. Helaena had common interest with you, but you always were closer with Rhanyra’s children, Jace and Luke.

Your relationship was fine, until Laena Velaryon’s passing, and the fight of Prince and Princesses, as you had dubbed it. You had defended Luke’s actions in front of everyone claiming self defence, Alicent was confused, Aegon amused and Aemond disheartened. Was he that annoying? His own sister, nay intended, finds their bastard cousins more so family then himself?

Afterwards you never really interacted with Aemond, he kept to himself, grew and grew, trained and became a man. A Prince. Whilst you learned and taught, drunk your feelings for a period of time with Aegon and drowned in suitors.

As you gazed into the starry night above, you pondered the question which had been running rampant the past few days, would your dear half-sister Nyra and your uncle Daemon, or “Dae” as you said, take you in? Risk a war to keep you from a miserable existence, chained to a child bed, pumping heirs by the second?

You knew they would. As much as they despised the blacks you always felt as if you were one of them. But you could never risk their lives in such reckless ways. You could hear your mother and septa screaming in your head, “How dare you ponder over such treacherous thoughts?” “This is your duty!” “The birthing bed is our battlefield.” Which you had heard from the Queen, although you had heard similar from Nyra.

You needed to clear your head, you figured.

After half an hour of persuading Ser Criston Cole, who was coming to check on you, that is.

Your Nyraxes was asleep, but as you approached her head lifted off the ground, her scales painted a breathtaking dark violet, with dark blue and silver streaks like Dreamfyre. The pair got a long well, you and Helaena always flew together. With the violet came gorgeous amber eyes. She grew incredibly quickly, half of Vhagar’s size at the mere age of 20.

Your siblings always mounted their dragons with saddles, they treated their dragons as that, just dragons. You and Helaena cared for your girls as if they were your children.

You carefully mounted Nyraxes and set off for anywhere but the Red Keep. As you flew with no particular destination in mind you viewed a circular stone arrangement in a valley below. You’d been riding for thirty minutes or so and decided to dive down for a break before returning to your chambers.

Once you landed you soothed Nyraxes, “Gīda ñuha riña, gīda. Ēdrugon lo ao jaelagon ñuha jorrāelagon.”

Calm my girl, calm. Sleep if you wish my love.

The sight was a marvel, these stone statues in the middle were solid, they did not budge in the slightest. Upon gazing the sculptures and stone you felt yourself grow weary, but not before you stumbled across an ornate mirror.

What you didn’t realise was that this mirror was the origin of your tiredness. You felt waves of calm wash over as you slowly drifted into the sleeping realm.

-

The birds you would normally hear in Kings Landing were distant, in the back of your mind. What you did hear was a howling, or was it barking?

“Lady what is it?” Sansa spoke as she chased after her dear Lady. Robb reprimanded her, “Sansa slow down, you’re legs will fall off. And if you return home injured mother will have my head.”

(I’m so sorry for that 😭)

“Yes, I am being careful father.” Sansa mocked. “You think you’re being funny do you? I can make people laugh too Sansa.” Robb teased as he ran after his younger sister, only to look up and find nothing. Not his sister nor her direwolf.

Robb’s brows creased and confused, as was the rest of him. Soon worry triumphed his emotions, “Sansa? Sansa, this is not fun to joke of. Sansa!” He rushed forwards to be face to face with a violet scales dragon, flaring its nostrils whilst its tail wrapped around the shivering body of his mother.

“I thought dragons were supposedly extinct!” Sansa whispered to her brother, careful of her movements since she wasn’t exactly in the mood to get burnt to a crisp. “They most definitely are.” “Then tell me what in the hell is infront of us Robb.”

At the sound of voices your eyes opened, as a wave of cold air smacked you upfront. As you turned you were met with two people, staring directly at you, then Nyraxes, then you, then Nyraxes. The loop continued until you questioned them.

“Who are you?”

“Robb Stark of Winterfell, Eldest son to Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark, this is my younger sister, Lady Sansa Stark. And you?” He questioned as he straightened his posture in an attempt of courage infront of the woman and the dragon, mostly the dragon.

“You don’t know who I am?”

“I’m afraid not my Lady.” Robb spoke as he extended his arm out, infront of his sister as a barrier between herself and the dragon.

“Princess Y/n of House Targaryen, your princess, The Diamond of the Realm.”

“Targaryen?”

“That is what I said is it not? Who are you imposters I’ve never heard of Eddard nor Catelyn or the two of you. Where is Cregan Stark?”

“Cregan Stark, my princess, is my ancestor. From many moons ago.”

You looked at him as if he had just slapped you, “How-How many moons would you say?”

“It’s hard to say, people can’t exactly make out an exact year for his death. But I would say perhaps one hundred thirty to fifty. Although I am not the most reliable source Princess.”

You couldn’t hear anything around you.

It’s not possible. How could your life have been so very long ago? Were you still dreaming? Was this a cruel joke Aegon decided to organise for his amusement? Did you die- no. Not possible.

Your surroundings were changing, more so spinning.

“I think she’s awake now. Robb! Jon! Come quick!” The voice was definitely loud, as if you could hear it bouncing off the walls. A young girl perhaps? You heard fast footsteps against the harsh floor, fading away as slower, more intimidating steps made their way towards the room you had been allocated.

You were still so cold. You felt horrible for feeling bad for yourself when Nyraxes was probably freezing!

Nyra. Was she safe? Had she flown to warmer places and was soon to return? Or had she been taken prisoner somehow?

The anxiety and worry had you shooting up out of bed just at the thought of Nyra being in pain, or worse.

“Feeling all right there Princess?”

You looked to the door and saw the same man from before, Robb.

His name was Robb.

As you finally looked at him. His light brown beard, fair skin, divine eyes staring straight at you, his hair looked so very soft. He leaned against the doorway with a smirk on his face as you realised you had been staring, his nickname for you hot on the tip of his tongue.

“Princess? You there? Or do you need more time to stare at me? Because I do not mind it all.” He grinned whilst making his way to you.

[mysticaltora8276]

I’ve just like to say I don’t hate Russell T. Davies writing (well mostly there are plenty of elements that annoy me but that’s true for any writer so we’ll leave it at that. )but I don’t know the 60th anniversary specials just come across as very self congratulatory about his run and it really annoys me. Not to mention that for a 60th anniversary like ignoring things that came before it. No bringing in a character from the First Doctor’s run or an obscure character comic book run does not make a 60th anniversary. There were just some awkward bits of dialogue, and like I’ve said before this obsession of Russell to basically make the Doctor is mundane as possible instead of focusing on the fact that that they are a traveler and an alien and taking people to extraordinary places instead of glorifying the mundane. Again glorifying the mundane is not a problem, but I must ask why would you take someone so extraordinary and try to make him normal? With Moffat when the Doctor was in a normal setting, they didn’t stifle who the Doctor was. Same with Chibnall. The Doctor was still a unique entity and kind of stuck out a mundane settings, but that was the charm. The Doctor is an oddity that comes and takes you to extraordinary places not someone who desperately wants to be normal. The Doctor was and is an eccentric and proud of it. The only time it made sense for the Doctor to want mundanity was Nine and that was only because he’d been through a war but even still the Doctor traveled and were fine with being an eccentric. The Flux was a traumatic moment yes, but remember this is the series in which the Master destroyed just a quarter of the universe…. By accident. Yes, they should address it, but not by clipping the Doctor’s wings. Maybe it’s just me, but it was across as basically saying “are you eccentric? Do you like to travel? Well, then for recovery instead of you know, allowing the person to still be your own unique person you have to basically conform to what I the writer think is necessary even if goes against your character, and take away all your uniqueness.” It just feels a little bit stifling to me. I mean they could’ve had him just taking short trips to planets and taking it easy there from place to place and then coming back instead of constantly staying in one place which may I remind you they hated in previous incarnations?

Edit: Three was exiled on Earth and hated every single second of it. He liked helping but the fact he was stuck there drove him crazy. Eleven retired to Earth twice. Once due to the Ponds being dramatically taken away from him and once Clara came in he jumped at the chance. And he literally locked himself away. The second time was when he was trying figure out about Clara and once he got it he was off once more without a second thought. And that’s not even counting the other time he stayed on a planet when he defended Christmas for a hundred years so the people wouldn’t be wiped out. Twelve stayed on Earth for seventy years to watch over Missy but as soon as Bill comes he books it because he is going stir crazy. He even makes it clear that he’s barely keeping it together. So yeah the Doctor doesn’t do well with being tied down.

And that��s not getting into the whole conversation about family….excuse me the Ponds and the Fam would like a word with you. And their home is the TARDIS. Their fav planet is the Earth yes but ultimately it’s the TARDIS traveling that’s home.

Edit: Oh yeah as for “I have a family now” remark….Excuse me does the name Susan Foreman mean anything?! Susan smack your grandfather he’s being a moron again!

[tmblrcolouredpaper]

Fuck You

Bang Chan/ Reader

established relationship; argument; mental health issues; angst and cuddles

wc: 2809

'Fuck you!'

'Fuck me? Sure, sure, it's me who screwed up here.'

'Who else if not you?'

'You can't be serious.'

'Do I look like I'm joking?'

'Just fuck YOU!'

He basically yelled the last word to emphasize how done he was with your behavior.

It all started with a mild disagreement about how you  did not handle a comment by one of your mutual friends well. 

In Chan's opinion it was nothing to freak out about. 

Lee Know just observed and expressed that you preferred comfortable clothes when he saw you sitting down at the table in the restaurant wearing bigger clothes than you usually would.

There was no judgment in his statement, but still, it made your mood turn 180 degrees, leaving a sulking quiete you back there.

Once Chan entered the apartment with you following some steps behind him, you went straight to the bathroom, taking a shower and going to bed. 

He did his night routine, trying to take his mind off, but he felt kinda restless, neither wanting you to go to sleep in a bad mood nor wanting himself to be unaware of what was going in your head. 

So he stepped inside the shared bedroom after he was done and simply spoke into the dark room that he would like you to come to the living room to talk. 

He plopped down on the sofa, always looking behind him to see when you would come. 

Some minutes later you sleepy figure approached him saying:'I'm tired.', but still proceeding to sit next to Chan. 

You talked about the incidence.

He explained to you his point of view and clarified that there was no bad intention from Lee Know.

It bothered him how you were not aware of that, since you knew the younger one.

You somewhat saw where he was coming from, but you were stubborn and annoyed of the fact that people had to comment on such a silly thing like clothes in the first place. 

That was when the calm talk about a minor misinterpretation started to shift. 

'It's not about him saying something about your outfit. It's about the fact that you're starting to hide again.' 

'How am I hiding by wearing a casual outfit to a casual dinner with friends?'

'It's not just that. But it's one of the things you started doing again, you know. If you would have been fine with your outfit choices, you wouldn't have been that bothered by his comment.'

'One of the things I started doing again? Chan, I was wearing comfortable clothes, don't make a big deal out of it.'

'You have plenty of other comfortable clothes that aren't extra baggy.'

'So you wished I was choosing prettier clothes?'

'I don't care what you're wearing.'

'Obviously you do care. A lot if it makes you that upset that you prevent me from sleeping when I'm tired after a long day.'

'Don't do this. I just want to clarify what happened, because you were obviously affected by his words.'

'So what am I supposed to do? Dress better so that people stop commenting on my looks?'

He sighed in frustration. He did not want the conversation to be like that. All he wanted was to tell you that you were perfect the way you were and that you did not have hide yourself from the world, that you did not have to be ashamed of yourself in any sense. 

'I saw the clothes that you put out before you changed your mind and went for the bigger clothes.  I saw when you got really excited some days ago when the others talked about the new Spiderman movie, but then you completely shut down and didn't dare to say a word. It's not just the outfit today, but considering that you enjoy putting a different kind outfit together, it just seems like another aspect of where you're hiding again.' 

He looked at you, hoping you now understood that it was about much more than just today's dinner. 

'So you're saying I'm not trying hard enough? I'm literally always working on getting over that shit, but how dare I to not be fully confident here and there.'

'I didn't say that-'

'It's just clothes, it's just a movie, it could be so much worse, why do you have to bring that up now?'

'Because you are clearly bothered.'

'So what. Happens.'

'I told you, don't do that.'

'What?'

'Being so fucking emotionless.'

You looked at him. He did not just say that, did he? 

'Fuck you.', you said not looking at him, done with this bullshit of a conversation.

'Fuck me?', he could not believe that you were being so immature right now.

'Sure, sure, it's me who screwed up here.', he continued sarcastically, angry at you for not even considering the idea that he just wanted to help you.

'Who else if not you?'

A rhetorical question. You were so pissed that he always had to be so nosy, not letting you be and sort your stuff out by yourself, he always wanted to be part of it.

'You can't be serious.', he stated in complete disbelief.

'Do I look like I'm joking?', you asked. If you hated something more than not being left alone, then it was not being taken seriously.

'Just fuck YOU!', he yelled, hurt by your ignorance.

It was silent after that. 

You fucked up and you knew it. 

He was always soft and caring, he did not yell at you, so when he did just now you were not angry anymore, you were not absorbed by your own insecurities that slowly got the best of again, making you lose focus on anything around you and even Chan's feelings.

You did not feel sorry, you did not feel much, not having the capacity to do so, but you knew you were wrong for acting the way you did.

'Chan?', you asked in a low voice, glancing over to him.

He sat there with straight posture, both hands placed on his knees, eyes focused on something only he could concentrate on somewhere in front of him, not moving an inch, maybe still in shock of what just happened.

'I'm sorry.', he whispered. 

'No, Chan, I-', you tried to bring out words to calm him down, but you knew he was strict on himself and he would be hard on himself for yelling at you. 

You scooted over to him and laid your arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. 

He did not move, but eventually after some minutes in silence and deep breaths of shock, he let his body melt into yours, followed by his arms that he quickly circled around your shoulders. 

'I'm so sorry.', he sniffled.

'I know, Chan.', you said, caressing his head in a soothing manner. 

'I'm sorry too.', you told him.

'Do you mean it?', he asked.

'Not really, I don't really feel it, but I am sorry if I made you frustrated. I don't want to make you feel bad in any way.', you confessed.

He tightened his arms around you, pulling you even closer.

'How bad is it again?'

You knew he referred to your mental state, without particularly naming it.

'I don't know.', you sighed.

'I-... Sometimes-', you looked down, shaking your head, unable to express yourself. 

He placed a kiss on your temple. 

'It's fine. You wanna try talking about it now or calm down first?', he asked, searching for the most comfortable option.

'Now.', you said. 'I just don't know where to start, I don't know if I can explain it to you well enough.' 

'Whichever words feel right to you. I will give my best to understand, okay? I'm here.', he assured.

Silence.

He saw you looking around the room, as if you were searching for something.

'Was there a reason why you went so quite when they were talking about the movie?', he tried giving you a topic to start with. 

You leaned into his embrace a bit more, as if you were hiding from the world. 

'I wanted to watch the movie in the cinema. I couldn't bring myself to actually do it.'

He hummed in anticipation, caressing some hair out of your face.

'It's not a big deal, I know it. I'm not even scared or anything. I just didn't go and then I was disappointed that I didn't.', you explained. 

'But you didn't panic or anything?', he asked in confusion.

'No. I didn't even try.'

He caressed you back up and down.

Silence.

'Chan-'

'Hmm.'

'I don't wanna talk. It doesn't make sense.' 

'What doesn't make sense?'

'This.', you said, pushing away from him.

'What do you mean?', he asked, remaining the confusion.

'I didn't feel like anything was up. I was only annoyed of that comment today. The movie thing is more like I didn't prioritize my own wish for watching it. 

Nothing is up. Everything is fine. Just you trying to make a point by analyzing my psyche based on a few interpretations-... I-... I was just scared because you yelled. You don't just yell. I thought if you're that frustrated that you start yelling, it must mean you actually think something is wrong and I trust your feeling for that, but now talking about it-... I don't think it's getting worse. Everything is fine.',  you explained and threw in big gestures unintentionally. 

'Maybe I misinterpreted things.', he said and you nodded, still sitting up straight, not leaning into him to have a better position for reading his face. 

You truly believed that the points he brought up were not indicators for a worsen health condition of yours and you felt relieved that the conversation seemed to be over, you just wanted to go to sleep.

So you just sat there, on the sofa next to Chan.

You  waited patiently for him to do something, maybe to get up and do his night routine, anything, it did not matter what, you just waited for him to initiate any change of the current situation you were in. 

You were not hiding nowadays, you were passive.

You were present without putting yourself out there as much as you would become the center of attention for even a second.

Considering that exactly that happened today, it was no surprise that the comment that drew attention to you had a bigger impact than it would have had normally. 

Chan did not move away to do anything else, but stayed in the same position.

You were unaware of him observing you closely.

He meant it when he surrendered and said he might have misinterpreted your behavior, but the feeling that you did not feel a hundred percent did not leave him.

He knew you and sometimes it was easier to see what was going on from the outside by just going through the list of signs than experiencing struggles yourself that overwhelm you until you were almost completely numb.

'Let's go to bed, shall we?', he asked. 

'Yes.', you answered in relief that you were allowed to leave the situation. 

Once you were back in the dark bedroom covered by blankets and snuggled into Chan's body you fell asleep. 

However Chan was still awake for a long time. 

Too much was on his mind: The guilt he felt for yelling at you, he would never do that again, never, his own stress got the best of him as well, but he would not excuse his actions in any way;

the worry about your health that was obviously worse compared to some month ago and the fact that you said yourself that you did not feel anything much made obvious that you needed more support again;

besides those two point there was also his constant fear of finally being rejected by you after all, because he knew he was a lot and maybe too much and at the same time not enough. 

What if you would break up with him? Who would be by your side helping you? How was he supposed to catch any sleep again without you calming him down? 

'Chan?', you grunted half asleep.

'Yes?', he responded in surprise. 

'Stop worrying andjustsleep.', you proceeded to mumble falling asleep again while talking. 

'Okay.', he whispered and nuzzled his head in between your shoulder and neck in an attempt to distract himself.

He felt much more relaxed when your warmth surrounded his senses and he pressed his eyes together to not let any tear slip out that wanted to stream down his cheeks. 

The try of regulating his breath to become slow and more even was interrupted by your hand combing his messy locks. 

Your weight shifted as you rolled on your back.

'Come here.', you whispered and tucked on the black hoodie your boyfriend was wearing to signal him to lay down on top of you.

He quickly sat up and pulled the fabric over his head and threw it on the ground before he let himself rest on top of you without forgetting to grab the blanket that covered both of you again after some seconds of the position change. 

'It's comfier like this.', he blurted out and made you giggle.

He felt your hand on his bare back, first drawing circles then going up and down slowly. 

'I love you.', he heard you whisper and then felt your lips on his forehead that was close to your chin as his head rested on your upper body. 

It was the last straw and he let his tears escape.

'Chan, no, it's okay.', you cooed, holding him close. 

'I just-... It's sooo hard to- to se you going through it again. And I- I', he stuttered, 'I am so scared of losing you, I know I'm not doing well enough, I'm so so s-s-sorry... please just- just, please-' 

'Chan', he heard you saying, interrupting his mumbling.

'You are doing well. You're just overthinking, don't stress yourself like this, okay?', you tried to assure him still caressing his skin.

'I can't lose you.', he whispered as if saying it out loud  and clear would make it become reality in an instant. 

You interrupted the steady movements on his back and places your palms on both side of his head what caused him to look up to you.

With a deep stare in his eyes you said: 'You don't. You won't. I promise.'

He pushed his body up and freed himself from your touch transitioning to hovering above you without breaking eye contact once.

The sudden move surprised you and you just laid there looking at him, not sure what to say or do.

He believed you, he wanted nothing more than trusting in your words and he knew he could do so. 

However it did not stop his worries just like that.

He shifted to the side and sank his lower body onto the mattress while keeping his upper body up with the weight on one arm.

Carefully he adjusted the blanket that fell to the side due to his movements. 

Once you were covered again, he pushed some strands of your hair to the side and caressed your cheeks. 

He saw the goosebumps creeping over your skin.

'I just want you to be happy.', he whispered and looked down on you with nothing but adoration in his eyes. 

He saw how you reached out to grab his hand and went along by taking yours. 

He wanted you to be closer, but at the same time he wanted to see your face. 

It broke his heart a little when he saw how absent you looked like. It was beyond the tiredness of the end of a day. 

He felt your grip tightening around his palm and you whispered:

'I'm trying-' 

He saw you closing your eye and taking a deep breath. 

'I don't know how- I- I'm sorry.'

He knew he could not do much. As much as he wanted to give you the whole world, he knew it would not help.

He could just be there and hope that was at least something. 

So, he robbed closer and gathered your body in his embrace that you immediately welcomed by snuggling into him.

He closed his arms around you and dropped down on the bed. 

'There is nothing to be sorry about. You're working so hard to get better, I know. It must be frustrating, hm?'

He felt you nodding. 

He knew it was not about him here. It was not about getting his desire to help satisfied, it was about you feeling better again. 

'How are you feeling?', he asked and caressed your head.

'Tired. Just tired.'

'Wanna talk about it tomorrow?' 

'Yes, please.' 

'Okay. Anything I can do for you now?'

'You're here. That's already more than enough.' 

'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 21 - A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

I honestly entirely forget who recommended this to me, but I owe them a thank you. Absolutely not something I would have ever picked up on my own, but a really enjoyable read. My exposure to Novik’s work is extremely limited, which is to say I’ve read Spinning Silver, but I’ve been vaguely meaning to give more of her stuff a try for a while. Didn’t enjoy this as much as that on a few levels, but that’s just the YA/adult genre jump as much as anything, probably.

It is very much a YA book, more than anything I’ve read this year (even more than Iron Widow, probably). From the entire plot being about making friends in high school being a literal life or death struggle to El “most powerful mage ever but only for evil things she tries to avoid so only a half dozen people ever realize how special she is’ Higgins to the booklength awkward teenage ‘literally unclear whether we are dating or not’ romance. So! Broadening my genre horizons some, I suppose.

El’s internal monologue was a bit of a trial for the first half of the book or so, I’ll admit. Not to say that it didn’t ring true to life, but she was just so incredibly fifteen, you know? Generally became significantly more tolerable once she started actually acting and coming out of her shell instead of devoting herself entirely to angsting about how much everyone hated her and trying to convince herself that she was a machievellian villain in waiting.

Though, to pick a nit that probably annoyed absolutely no one but me – I’m willing to accept El’s magical savant-ness as the price of admission, but the whole gradual reveal with her mom actually being world famous felt...odd? Cheap? Like in the beginning she’s very firmly characterized as this kind of head-in-the-clouds well meaning but not particularly perceptive or effectual hippie type, and then it’s gradually revealed that she’s actually the best healer in the UK and has set the global standard for a lot of spells and-. And it’s not like the reveal was actually doing anything dramatically, except making early book El’s isolation and lack of friends even more self-imposed, which was hardly necessary at that point. (Honestly ‘supporting cast go from being nobodies to retroactively being world-famous in their fields’ is the sort of decay I tend to associate with long running serial fiction. Weird to see it happen over the course of one book.) But that’s really just a minor pet peeve.

Orion was a great character, or at least a well-done example of an archetype I adore. ‘Selfless, heroic and dedicated to the point of it being kind of offputting/creepy Chosen One type who is (and I can’t emphasize this enough) not the protagonist. Partially because ‘there’s a much more conventionally heroic adventure story happening 5 degrees to the left’ just makes most stories a little bit more amusing, but also because someone really earnestly believing ‘my entire life is a means to a higher end, a fine tool set to a magnificent or at least a necessary purpose’ reliably drives me absolutely insane about them. That said the only reason I’m not absolutely certain he turns out to be either secretly evil or destined-to-be-the-antichrist is because the end of book cliffhanger makes that almost too obvious and on-the-nose.

Taking a bit of a step back, it’s interesting that the book didn’t really have any individual villain? Like, some other students are antagonists at times, sure, and there are plenty of horrible gribbly monsters (I adored basically all the horrible gribbly monsters), but none that really last as antagonists? Either defused or convinced to step aside/help or brutally murdered with magic. The entire finale was basically extreme high stakes facility maintenance. So yeah, interesting, not my usual expectation of YA.

I mean more broadly the actual villain is of course the entire fucked up system, both social and metaphysical, underlying the school. The role of a brutally competitive education system as recruitment method allowing particularly competent or promising immigrants and members of the lower classes to join a ‘meritocratic’ elite while also filtering out the most troublesome or incompetent children of that elite and using their failure to legitimize the easy inheritance of all the others is, perhaps, a slightly on the nose analogy. But, again, kind of the price of admission.

[northwest-cryptid]

Idk if I fully understand ffxiv being native-phobic? I just played through stormblood & what I got from that was colonialism bad, to put it in super simple terms. Like idk the entire point of it was liberate an oppressed peoples and give them back their homes? And maybe I missed it but I didn't see the Ala mhigans as being native coded or inspired?

You didn't see the Ala Mhigans being "Native Coded" because they aren't and yet Ala Mhigan clothes use Native patterns. You didn't see FFXIV being "Native-Phobic" because it's generally not, it likes to hide it's racism away in little pockets.

It's hard to see it when you're not used to seeing it. This isn't your fault, it's that you're looking in the wrong places.

This is the "Ala Mhigan Gown" it's being largely attributed to being "Ala Mhigan" it is not. It is Native.

These patterns are Native, and while I cannot claim exactly and exclusively which tribes use them I can say for certain that I'm Deer Clan Lakota and these patterns are ALL OVER my traditional Native clothing. To attribute our clothing to Ala Mhigo is wrong.

This pattern is being reproduced and sold as Ala Mhigan, as "Kimonos" and lastly, as cosplay.

And these patterns can be found across plenty of First Nation/Indigenous clothing and beadwork.

Like, here if you're curious:

Let's also quickly talk about the New World set,

This is just ugh. Believe it or not I like the pants, and the actual torso and shoes aren't bad either. IF (and this isn't the case) this set were to exclude the headdress and were to actually pay proper respect to Native design and culture I'd love it. I actually used to use this set in game minus the headdress obviously, but wouldn't you know it I'm literally Native. This feels like those party city costumes people make, and the parts it gets right are almost more upsetting because it's not being properly attributed to the right people despite knowing very well the devs clearly referenced actual Natives. Those straps on the pants for example are a very real thing, the clothing my father passed down to me has those, tipped with metal because it makes enough noise to scare off rattlesnakes since those were a threat for kids on the res. The colors and bead patterns also do follow a lot of various Native designs, though I find it harder to pin down these exact patterns.

You're looking at the plot, but that's not entirely where the problem lies; also sorry sorry but I can't overlook this. None of the story or plot justifies Zenos calling me a Savage. I do not care if he's the antagonist, that's a fucking slur. It's been used against me and my people for decades. It's been used against me when I was in middle and high school. So yes, even in recent times this is acknowledged as a slur by racist individuals seeking to cause us harm.

If you've never gotten into a physical fight that you didn't instigate only to have someone ask you "what are you gonna do savage? You gonna scalp me?" And then do the worst imitation of a Native war cry; you likely have no idea how annoying it is to see/hear even a villain in a video game call you a fucking savage, have this be hand-waved as kinda being whatever by the general public who don't deal with this kind of racism, and then furthermore when you go into FFXIV community spaces you see this blonde ass white boy being plastered up everywhere like "oh I wanna fuck him so bad" why do you want to fuck a racist?! He's not even hot. Any potential sex appeal he had left his body the second he uttered the word "savage" and you know the worst part? He's not real. Which means he didn't say that shit, someone at Square WROTE that into the game and really thought "hey is it okay to use a slur like this? Yeah it'll be fine no one is gonna know or care."

Can you IMAGINE if they had a villain drop the N word mid fight? You'd never hear the end of it I assure you.

I think the biggest issue is that people don't even know what Native is, they don't know tribes, they don't know patterns, they don't know our actual history.

You say you don't know how it's "Native-phobic" when it's racism and mockery of Natives is very apparent to Natives, but I can't fault you for it because you literally don't know what to look for.

I want to make it super clear I'm not mad at you, I'm upset that this game can get away with this shit because no one is actually educated on Native matters, culture, etc.

I hope this helps clear that up a little.

[crusherthedoctor]

What is your opinion on Sonic Colours? I know the fandom has turned on it since it had the "baldy mcnosehair" joke that killed everyone's grandmothers and it wasn't full of melodrama like the 2000's games, but the quality remains consistent the entire way through. It's not "good in some parts" (Unleashed) or "average at best if you ignore this part" (most Sonic games), Colours is a consistently good and functional game the whole way through. Plus, Eggman remains the main antagonist.

I still really like it. I don't care what the loudest voices in the community say, no matter how many YouTube critiques they make.

Yes, it has flaws. Not a single game in existence is literally "perfect", not even games that we may personally consider perfect. Yes, I understand that fans were annoyed because other games didn't get as much respect at the time, like Unleashed (maybe they shouldn't have included a controversial gimmick so soon after '06 that takes up half the game's runtime) and the Storybooks (maybe story alone, no matter how good, doesn't fully compensate for mediocre-to-bad gameplay). Yes, I know the tone is not for everyone. Yes, I know Sonic says the infamous line twice, then once in Lost World, and then never again.

But needless to say, I feel the backlash against it has long gotten out of proportion. I already didn't agree with it then, and I especially don't in a post-Frontiers world, because the people who hype Frontiers up the ass - particularly those who hail it as The Character Rerailment Of All Time - don't seem to consider that they're doing the exact same thing they complained about in the decade beforehand. Yet suddenly it's fine when they do it. Kind of like how Classic elitism tends to be rightfully discouraged nowadays, yet Adventure elitists get a free pass.

Putting all of that aside, and looking at the game purely for... well, the game, I really do appreciate a lot about it. While the gameplay isn't the most complex compared to other Sonic titles, I have plenty of fun with it all the same. Regardless of what one thinks about the Wisps' presence in later games, I thought they were fine here. I love the sheer atmosphere that radiates throughout the game, not just through how gorgeous and unique everything is, but also through the legendary public announcements from Eggman. The art direction in general is one of the most consistently strong in a 3D mainline installment, up there with SA1 and Heroes. And yes, as the serious business Eggfan that I am, no shit I'm going to treat his status as this game's final boss, for the first time in a main 3D title, with no strings attached, like a historical event.

...Yeah, I know about the Nega-Mother Wisp in the DS version, but it's clear I'm talking about the console version. Speaking of though, DS Colours is alright, but I prefer the console iteration. I don't know why people keep claiming it's the better one just because the other characters make an appearance, seeing how they don't actually do anything beyond giving you missions. That was a common complaint for Generations, so I don't get why it's deemed an improvement here.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I enjoyed that latest Taskmaster episode a lot. I don’t know why I’ve hardly written any posts about this season since it started, as it’s been really good. Here’s a brief summary of my updates opinions four episodes in:

- The main thing I wanted for Nick was a chance to show off his magician-related skills. He got that chance in the tension task… it did not go as I’d predicted. However, he has made up for breaking my predictions by turning out to be the sweetest person in the world. It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper cinnamon roll on Taskmaster. I think his gentle banter with Greg continues to be the funniest thing he brings, it’s delightful every time.

- Steve Pemberton won me over in the first couple of episodes, but then lost me pretty hard by admitting he broke that egg on purpose, I must admit I am now pretty focused on hoping he loses specifically as punishment for that. I got mad at him then for sacrificing the task in order to play to the TV edit/try too hard to be funny – he’s done similar things several times since, like imposing extra rules in the Mr. Blobby task and writing puns in the hand task. It is not in the spirit of Taskmaster! He’s probably basically fine but I want him to lose so that future Taskmaster contestants understand you do not come here to perform, you come here to play. I don’t even just hold that belief because of how competitive I am, I also think it’s much funnier if you let you and throw yourself right into the game, which he’s not quite doing, and it disproportionately annoys me.

- I find Sophie Willan’s unpredictability entertaining. Usually she’s shit at the tasks, and every once in a while she’ll be great. She has no idea what’s going on almost ever but apparently has a good eye for art. She talks to horses. She nearly drowns in a river that only goes up to her waist. She demonstrates sexy dances that literally no one asked her to do? She has never seen this show before. You never know what she’s going to bring to the table next.

- All right, Joanne McNally’s won me around. She went in with a significant deficit in my opinion of her because I say some quite shitty things on a different TV show once, but four episodes in, she’s been entertaining enough for me to forgive it (I mean… I don’t actually forgive the sentiment expressed, but I can decide I like her enough to choose to assume it was just a misguided attempt to be funny). She’s breathing life into tense situations and tension into situations where the task explicitly requests it. She’s also never seen the show before but she’s throwing herself all the way into it. She’s consistently funny. She’s sharp and knows what’s going on, task-wise, almost all the time, while making it look fairly effortless. She didn’t do the prep work but I respect that she still showed up to play.

- Well, we haven’t had the full-on meltdowns from Robins, but I kind of knew that would happen, as they caught him just as he was moving into his “sober and more enlightened” era. It will always be a loss that Taskmaster never cast Farthinggate-era Robins when they had the chance, but I’m actually surprised at how much I’m enjoying “on his best behaviour Robins”. Mainly because it is visibly incredibly difficult for him to not have competitive meltdowns and to play it as chill as he is (which still isn’t very chill, it’s just chill compared to what he used to be), and the tension of that difficulty can be very funny. Maybe it’s like how people trying to avoid swearing on the radio is funnier than just hearing them swear. I’ve heard John Robins have plenty of proper competitive meltdowns – it is a new and uniquely entertaining thing to watch him sit there and try to physically force every nerve in his body to not do that. A whole new level of the pointless intensity. Those team tasks especially have potential for it. Also, they’ve used the same joke several times now, but I don’t mind at all. They could keep implying that John’s fucked up a task and giving him time to panic before saying it’s fine – that might get old after 100 or so episodes, but 10 episodes wouldn’t be nearly enough for that to stop being funny. I’d be fine if they keep it up all season. I desperately hope he wins but I also hope they torture him.

I have to admit I may have got too into the competition too early in this season, because normally it isn’t until the last few episodes, if the scores are tight, when I start to get really concerned about whether it’ll end up going my way. But yesterday, while watching episode four, I found myself genuinely stressed during every task because of how much I want John Robins to beat Steve Pemberton. I mean, I want him to win, but I specifically want him to beat Steve Pemberton, because I do not want someone to get away with being smugly too good to throw himself entirely into Taskmaster. I’m too invested. I knew John had gone in one point ahead of both Steve and Joanne, and I was keeping score in my head throughout the episode, of how far each score led him to extend his lead over both of them. I don’t usually count points as the episode goes along until episodes 9 or 10.

Most tasks I’m less interested in John’s total score and more interested in his score relative to Steve. I realize Joanne is also competitive and a threat to win and I want him to beat her too, but I don’t think she’s as likely to win overall, she’s not as competitive in general and the only reason she’s so close to the top right now is she got a lucky 5-0 that’s not likely to repeat itself. Also, if she wins I’ll be disappointed, but not nearly as disappointed as I’ll be if Steve does.

Anyway, I thought episode 4 was great fun. It does feel a bit more “simmering” than some other Taskmaster seasons – I almost wrote “gentle” but I don’t think that’s quite true, because there seems to be a lot going on. It’s just not all being shouted the way it is in some seasons. I like it, I enjoy the unpredictable mystery of Sophie Willan and the incomprehensible charm of Nick Mohammed and the understated arrogance of Steve Pemberton (in a “fuck this guy but he makes a good villain” way) and the simmering anger of John Robins. Also Joanne McNally is there, cheerfully shouting whatever thoughts occur to her, and they’re almost always funny.

One note I do have to mention in writing a post about Taskmaster s17e04 – if you have a good friend who’s recently quit drinking due to quite a severe and life-ruining alcohol addiction, with rum as his drink of choice for a number of years, you should maybe not trick him into drinking rum on national television even if it’s non-alcoholic? Ed Gamble said on the podcast that he thinks the rest of them got regular rum and only John got special non-alcoholic rum, and I think/hope Ed was wrong about that, because you really shouldn’t trick people into drinking hard liquor at work even if they’re not alcoholics in recovery. Especially since any of those people could have gone all in and drank the whole glove for a laugh. Going out of their way to procure special non-alcoholic rum is a pretty weird thing to do when Ribena has been used on the show before and has to be cheaper/easier to find/avoids the thorny issue of alcohol altogether. I found it funny that they threw pickled onions in there, because anyone who’s listened to John Robins on the radio will know he’s obsessed with pickled onions; I figured Alex added that as a sort of in-joke with his friend, to the point where it’s almost unfair that by being friends with Alex, John gets an item on the task tailored to things he’s most likely to recognize. But Alex will also know that rum was John Robins’ drink of choice for a long time (I mean, I know it, so I'm pretty sure his real-life drinking buddy Alex Horne does), which sort of makes putting rum in the task look like an incredibly twisted and fucked up version of that joke. I'm sure it was just an oversight, but still, pretty big oversight. Even if they didn’t have an alcoholic in the cast, why bring alcohol into it at all when you could just use some other drink that starts with R?

Having said that, does anyone know if non-alcoholic whiskey can replicate the burning sensation of the real thing, or does it just try for the taste? Asking for a friend who's trying to give up whiskey but really misses it and specifically misses its burning qualities and that friend is me. I actually hadn't thought about non-alcoholic hard liquor until Alex mentioned it on the show, I just knew about non-alcoholic beer and wine. I might look into that. But anyway, they probably shouldn't feed it to people who are at work without warning.

[gffa]

about the anti post, tbf it wasn't in the ship tag so technically not crossing lanes but it was in the character tags and as a babs fan it can still be annoying going in her tag to see that kinda stuff esp cuz a lot of db antis are bigger dick stans and are more critical and negative towards her than him in subtle and not so subtle ways, you know?

anyway thank you for your response! it reminded me why i love their relationship so much! theres so much negativity surrounding this ship that sometimes i begin questioning myself, wondering if they're really that bad and am i missing something?? so its always reassuring seeing others who feel the way i do and view them positively :)

I hear you, it can be really hard to avoid this kind of thing, even when you're trying to stay in your lane and others are trying to stay in their lane, too. And, it really doesn't help when a lot of anti-Dick/Babs people come into our space to be jerks about it. (I don't know if it happens in reverse, I'm not in those spaces enough to tell, I can only say that I haven't seen it any time I wander outside of my corner. But if it does, that's not cool, either.)(Nor do I know the context of the post you saw, for all I know, it could have struck me totally different than it did for you.) And, yeah, honestly, there does have to be room for everyone to like and dislike their own stuff, even if that means we come across posts we find annoying and it means that we find the complaining too much to be around. We have to have a little grace for disagreements, just as people who disagree with us have to have a little grace with us. That said, you know what I find a thousand times more fulfilling? Yelling happily about what I like, because I don't want the entire experience of Thing I Like to be negative and when I see other people having fun, I want to join in on that fun, too--so, I would suggest that any time you feel frustrated by someone being a jerk, find your favorite comic moment or animated series moment or fic you enjoyed reading, and yell very loudly about how great it was and put that in the tag (both characters and ship) because then I'll see something happy when I go through the tag and it'll remind me why I love the ship, too! Or find your favorite Barbara moments and talk about her, because fandom does sometimes overshadow her and I would love to see more about her view of her life and relationships and family! And, honestly, while plenty of people have perfectly valid reasons to dislike a ship--literally ANY ship, this isn't just about Dick/Babs, but it could just as easily apply to Dick/Kory or Dick/Wally or Dick/Roy or Dinah/Babs--there's always going to be a fair amount of ship war nonsense, where criticism isn't even about what the ship is really like, just that it's not the person's OTP. And then who cares! Use that energy to make positive content for the ship because that's a better use of your time! And you deserve to have a nice experience in fandom, too. Dick/Babs is a great pairing, they're adorable and they're flirty and they love each other and they support each other and they're not afraid to have it out with each other when they need to and they just like being around each other. Whether someone OTPs it or just thinks it's fine enough/is a multishipper instead, it's totally great to enjoy a moment of theirs because they can be utterly delightful and nobody's wrong for loving them. 💕

[eccentric-nucleus]

covid stuff

the last several years have really done a number on my emotional wellbeing. like i would have already said on the whole i tend to be a fairly unhappy person but it's definitely gotten substantially worse with covid. basically every time i go out there are these waves of sadness and anger that just kinda wash over me continually. it's not great.

i don't really like being around people. when i was a kid i got yelled at a lot for, like, not wanting to go to the babysitter's, not wanting to spend time around other people, not really wanting to be in any kind of position where i could be observed by other people. there was a lot of, you know, "listen everybody has to deal with other people sometimes, and part of existing in society is not making things an enormous hassle for other people". yeah yeah plenty of stuff makes you miserable but it is genuinely not the responsibility of other people to restructure their whole lives around whatever upsets you; sometimes you have to just suck it up and deal for the overall good of, like, society. sure. it feels like i am constantly tolerating a lot of things for the good of society

and then covid hits, and it becomes clear that nobody really meant that, not really. i learned the lesson wrong and thought the point was 'for the good of society' and not 'people should never be expected to restructure their lives'. oh, right, it was always about normality all along. if keeping things normal requires hassling some introverted kid, then we gotta hassle that kid. if keeping things normal requires millions dying and who-know how many getting serious, still-unknown long-term medical issues from a plague, well, that's just a cost we'll have to pay. i'm kind of furious every single time i go into a building and i see nobody wearing masks. it's the smallest fucking thing but this vast confluence of habit and pressure means that oh i guess even that was too much to ask.

like a little personal information, i guess: literally every single time i have gone outside in the past four years i have been wearing a mask. it's been annoying! i got pressure bruises on my nose several times! i'm really lucky i don't actually have some job that requires me to interact with people for 8 hours of the day, b/c then i'd have to have figured out something that doesn't wear away at the flesh of my nose longterm. wearing a mask kinda sucks, actually. it's still such a small fucking thing to do and it has such a well-documented impact on transmission rates

it's not like covid went away! covid is going to be around for the rest of human history! waves will come and waves will go, and it's still mutating furiously, & all we can really hope for at this point is that at some point, uh, probably in the next hundred years, it spreads to a form that doesn't give people organ damage. another huge scientific breakthrough that manages to kill off the common cold would be okay too, i guess.

just... seeing all of society go laser-focused on pretending things are fine and nobody needs to go out of their way to mitigate risk or accomodate other people just seems deeply and utterly grotesque. a profound and utter abandonment of any sense of morals or ethics, just to keep things Normal.

so yeah covid on the whole has made me a much more unhappy person. i go through this whole train of thought basically every single time i step outside, which is probably unhealthy. but that's how it is